Friday, June 10, 2011

It's been awhile since we've experienced this feeling. The Colorado Rockies, down by four runs (TWICE), rallied (TWICE) to steal a big win from their rivals from Los Angeles. No, make that a HUGE win. A must have win if you ever plan on putting your foot down and changing the direction your season is going.

The Rockies offense showed more life in yesterday's 9th inning and today's 6th, 7th and 8th innings than we saw for all of May. It was great, and it's absolutely no coincidence that Troy Tulowitzki has been in the middle of it all. Tonight Tulo was 2-for-5 with a two-run double in the 6th and a two-run single in the 7th. A four RBI night following a three RBI afternoon. Please God let this continue!

1-2-3: And it helps when your top three hitters are getting on base. Carlos Gonzalez (3-for-5, RBI, two runs, double), Chris Nelson (2-for-4, RBI, run, sac fly) and Todd Helton (1-for-2, RBI, two runs, three walks) were all fantastic.

Obviously it's encouraging to see Gonzalez put together a series of at-bats. I'm a really big fan of the way the ball jumps off Chris Nelson's bat. I think he might end up being a really nice fit in the two-spot as we look for a more high octane offense as opposed to the small ball qualities Jonathan Herrera brings. Todd Helton is just Todd Helton. Duh.

Others: Jose Morales, Charlie Blackmon, Eric Young and Seth Smith each scored a run. Nice to get contributions up and down the lineup and from the bench. Well done by all.

Juan Nicasio: Here's the thing about leaving Nicasio in the big leagues right now. Teams are going to figure out real fast that he's a one and a half pitch pitcher. The fastball is darn sure electric, and he's going to be terrific when/if those secondary pitches develop, but there will be lumps at this level if you're hoping he develops here. I don't think I'm saying anything you couldn't figure out yourself by watching. I like the kid. I like his control, but that can also be detriment with his limited pitch selection.

How did Betancourt get the win? Rule 10.17: If a relief pitcher is ineffective but would qualify for the W, scorer can credit another (effective) pitcher with W instead.

Thanks to Alison Miyasaki for posting that on Twitter so I didn't have to look the exact ruling up.

Overall thoughts: Awesome win. Hopefully it's the one we look back at as the moment the season was corrected for good!

And finally: Here I thought the Rockies would have an impossible time replacing Summer Barmes with the grab bag promos. Nope. They've upgraded nicely to Lisa Iannetta. Probably the best upgrade they've made all season.

LOL - Look at Huson would ya? If only he could convey 1/100th of that anger and intensity into what he's saying during the broadcast.